Crash horror for workers
By Mandeep singh
Published: 29 March 2007
FIVE Asian labourers were injured, two of them seriously, when the open truck they were travelling in to work overturned early yesterday.
The incident happened when the driver tried to avoid a Saudi-registered car, which allegedly changed lanes at high speed in the Seef District at around 6.15am, traffic sources told the GDN.
They said the driver was thought to be drunk and fled the scene.
Paramedics took five of the injured men to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
Three of them, who suffered from abrasions and concussions, were discharged after receiving treatment.
Crash horror for workers
By Mandeep singh
Published: 29 March 2007
FIVE Asian labourers were injured, two of them seriously, when the open truck they were travelling in to work overturned early yesterday.
The incident happened when the driver tried to avoid a Saudi-registered car, which allegedly changed lanes at high speed in the Seef District at around 6.15am, traffic sources told the GDN.
They said the driver was thought to be drunk and fled the scene.
Paramedics took five of the injured men to Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
Three of them, who suffered from abrasions and concussions, were discharged after receiving treatment.
But one, identified as Anwar Noor Mian, 35, from Bangladesh, suffered serious head injuries and underwent emergency live-saving brain surgery yesterday.
He was said to be stable last night, but in a critical condition in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Another seriously injured Indian labourer, Sadhashivan Pillai, suffered head injuries and a broken hand, in addition to concussions and bruises all over his body.
He was being kept under observation at the hospital last night.
“He is coherent and conscious and we hope he will be better in a few days,” said doctors.
Three labourers, Mohammed Shahbuddin Faraz, Rashid Khursheed, both from Bangladesh, and Manikanthan Theruvannam, from India, were discharged.
Sources said there were 12 people riding in the open-top truck, which was heading towards a worksite in the Seef District.
Traffic officials declined to name the company they were working for, but doctors said the labourers who were discharged were illegal free visa workers.
Labour Ministry occupational health and safety department head Nidhal Al Banna said that because it was a traffic accident, the General Directorate of Traffic was dealing with it.
“However, there is soon going to be a complete ban on all such open trucks carrying labourers,” he told the GDN.
“The process of negotiations has already started and we are talking with traffic officials, companies as well as others connected with the safety and security of workers.”
He said there has to be a safety culture in the country. “We are trying our best to implement the new laws as soon as possible, but we need the co-operation of all sections,” he added.
“It is not an overnight job. Implementation and enforcement takes time. However, we are determined to do it as soon as we can.”
In December last year, Labour Ministry labour relations director Shaikh Ali bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, had said a ban on companies transporting workers in open trucks would be enforced “within a month”.
He said the practice was already illegal, but authorities were stepping up efforts to police company transport.
New rules governing workers’ transportation had been drawn up by the Labour Ministry and the General Directorate of Traffic at that time.
He also said vehicles that meet the new specifications would be supplied special badges by the General Directorate of Traffic, which should be clearly displayed and companies would be given a one-month grace period to comply with the new directives.
The clampdown follows a two-truck crash in Bahrain in October last year in which three workers were killed and 21 injured.
The men who died were thrown out of the back of a six-wheel pick-up, which was in collision with a trailer lorry carrying heavy building materials.
In a similar incident on September 28 last year, several construction workers were injured when they were hurled from the back of an open truck.
Both incidents sparked calls for tighter controls on workers’ safety by diplomats and human rights workers.
© Gulf Daily News